"Opting Out"

author : Molly Gibbs topic : Conscientious Objection | Military Recruiters

by Molly Gibbs

The articles and email regarding the persistent presence of military recruiters in schools hit an all time high this last week. In recent months several messages have come from high school students seeking assistance for protection of their civil rights. Many questions are surfacing around the country:

What is the role of the military in our schools?

If recruiters are given the same rights accorded other post secondary high recruiters, those same rules apply to individuals or groups expressing concerns about the misinformation given to students?

Full Disclosure is a large concern for parents and students. Many in our local schools do not know about No Child Left Behind legislation, under Section 9528 of the law, which requires public schools to report all private student information to the military, or risk their federal funding. There are Opt-Out forms, simple to complete, that students or parents can submit to their schools, requesting that their personal information not be released to the military.

Many schools struggle to balance their desire to protect student privacy against the threat of losing federal education funding. Prior to NCLB about half of all schools denied the military access to campuses.

The Pentagon sent a colonel to visit William Cala, a Fairport school superintendent just outside Rochester, NY. The reason for the visit is to pressure Mr. Cala to release students' students' names, addresses and phone numbers to the military.

Cala describes how the Fairport Board of Education has a long-standing policy that "we don't share student information with anybody, period." Locally, this type of leadership is unheard of; schools in our area continue to "support" our troops.

Military Recruiters Must Await "Opt-In" Before Contacting

Yesterday, Representative Mike Honda of CA introduced the Opt-In legislation in HR 2551. US Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) yesterday introduced the Student Privacy Protection Act, legislation that prohibits military recruiters from contacting students unless these minors and their parents specifically "opt-in" and consent to receive such communications.

"While I support the right of the armed services to recruit high school students, I don't believe successful military recruitment efforts require access to students' personal information without their consent," Congressman Honda said. "The right to divulge or not divulge personal information about minors should remain with the students and their parents."

The current system contains no defined process or procedure for opting out -- for either parents or schools -- and many schools simply give up their students' information, often without notification. One local parent contacted me wanting to know what she could do when her student continues to get calls from recruiters after she's filed an Opt Out form.

The range of options narrows if the school is not willing to support one's Tenth Amendment rights.

The Student Privacy Protection Act [see below] will require parents and students to opt-in before military recruiters may contact the minors. Parents and students know what groups will receive the minors' personal information, giving students and their parents' greater control over this personal information.

May 20, National Recruiter's "Day Off"

Let's examine just two basic omissions and misrepresentations given by recruiters to impressionable students.

1.The sole purpose of the military is to train you to kill -- [not to provide you with an education]

2.You'll receive great health benefits -- [VA benefits have been cut and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rates are close to 50% at a recent national gathering of war vets. This disorder impacts families as well as returning soldiers.

Twenty percent of all GI's use their educational benefits, as compared to the 70% of students who receive student loans. The Enlistment contract tells you that the promises made to you by recruiters are null and void when you sign.

You can, however opt out of allowing the military to contact you by completing a simple form and turning it in to your school.

The question for school boards is: What is your loco parentis obligation to students? When will you be held accountable for allowing recruiters to avoid the truth about war, forcefully seduce students to sign a legal contract, and engage in that process prior to age 18? Nowhere else does this contract sales pitch take place with minors. Children are to be protected from abusive behavior, and from making choices that result in their physical or psychological harm, let alone death.

Let's be clear that recruiters are victims of a system that threatens them with infantry service if they don't make their quotas. We read about increased illness, depression and suicide among the recruiters.

We will see what May 20, the national day of "reviewing Army recruiting policies and standards" brings. I expect sexual harassment, preying on low self esteem and lies to continue as pressure builds.

"What's happening May 20th is a coordinated effort to coach approximately 6000 recruiters in new sales pitches to bag the unsuspecting teens, and deflect 10 or 20 of the

most powerful criticisms and challenges from parents and schools," reflects Todd Boyle of Washington Truth in Recruitment.

We will continue to see the effects of a $4 billion (2005) high tech recruitment budget, using Army Adventure Vans, video war games, insidious advertisements (the snowboard ad comes to mind -- soldiers in full battle gear, adorned with snowboard cap and goggles)

Army recruiters will be vigorously counter-attacking parents, schools and activists with a dozen new sound-bites.

If you are interested in getting Opt Out information into local schools, or volunteering to plan our upcoming Forum titled Know All You Can Know, please contact Molly Gibbs at mgibbs@olywa.net